Competition

In February, we at CFCV began training for the “Competition Season” in earnest. Knowing from experience that many of our folks would be interested in competing in the CrossFit Games, Fittest of the Sierra, the newly created New Kids in the Box and Tough Mudder we started focusing on what I beleieved would be the tests included in these competitions. Certainly as the head coach and bottle washer I was aware of our athletes’ weaknesses and strengths and had been working on improving those throughout the year, but we really focused on the unknown in the past 5 months.

When the events were announced I wanted so badly to encourage everyone to participate, but in years prior when I did that it felt as though many had been talked in to competing. I did not want to repeat that. Through our left side and right side programming leading up to the season I think competitiors and others alike were prepared for the competitions as proven by our Games Open results. Everyone performed the Open wods, just some paid for the credit while others did not.

The Result:

Although we did not qualify anyone for the Regional competition, as a group we did much better than ever before. Lilly came close to qualifying for a Master’s spot and everyone did especially well considering the competition in our region. As a team we were mid pack which again is remarkable considering the competition we were faced with.

Only one of our athletes competed in the Fittest of the Sierra which was James. Considering he just came off of a broken hand 2 weeks prior and his experience, he did extremely well.

Then there was the New Kids in the Box competition yesterday. Chris, Jen C., Jen B., Carma, George, and Maddy represented us to the highest degree. There are tons of post and pictures on Facebook with many comments. I wanted to save my comments for this post because they not only apply to one competition, but to all of them. And really it’s not just limited to competitions but what I see at CFCV every day.

It boils down to the tenacity and inetgrity of our community. Our athletes at every level apply themselves 110% every day. Whether it be “training” or “testing” our athletes do their best to not only push their limits but move correctly.

And that’s the bottom line of my observations and pride over this competition season. What I witnessed was inspiring not only by the effort put forth but the integrity of movement. When other competitors were pushing to just get it done, CFCV athletes were right there in final rankings but miles ahead in integrity of movement. For this I am extremely humbled and proud.

It is unfortunate that James Stella already captured the name Kaizen for his box because that is truly what my vision for CFCV is. And that applies accross the board, athletes, bootcampers, kids and especially coaches. If you’re not familiar with the term, look it up and be inspired.